Mistaken Vigilante Justice Victim Buried

Julian Pena, the 57-year-old man allegedly murdered by four young men who mistook him for the person they thought killed an Onate High School football player, is also the victim of a second senseless killing for a family in Las Cruces.

Pena, an innocent bystander in a misguided revenge shooting, was laid to rest Tuesday afternoon at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens, west of Las Cruces.

Pena’s niece, Joann Reynolds said, she is angry, because this is the second time her family has lost someone from a mindless killing.

“It’s senseless, it’s senseless,” Reynolds said. “We don’t understand, the family doesn’t understand what is going on here.”

Reynolds said Pena was her uncle, but the Vietnam Veteran’s casket, was all too haunting a site. Seventeen years ago, Reynolds said her teenage son was also an innocent victim in a deadly shooting.

“Our family’s having a hard time,” Reynolds said. ?What its done to my immediate family has rekindled some emotions that were tucked away for a long time. We’re going through this all over again.”

Buried with full military honors, Pena was laid to rest a week after he was shot and killed while watching television in his living room.

Pena spent the past 15-years working at a local Wal-Mart.

“Great man, never in trouble, humble guy, always patient and kind to everybody,” Curtis Rosemond, Wal-Mart store manager, said.

Co-workers said he will always be remembered for his lovely personality.

“You know, you always needed help with a box or something, you know at work, he’d say, ‘Let me get that for you,’ you know. Just very nice,” Terry Gallegos, who worked with Pena, said.

Investigators said Pena was a victim in a misguided revenge shooting.

Aaron Valdivia, Homero Avalos, Myles Calderon and Johnny Ray Vallejos, now in custody, are each charged with first degree murder.

The group of men were allegedly seeking retaliation against Andrew Martinez, the 24-year-old now charged with beating Jerry Zamarripa to death.

Instead, they wrongfully targeted Pena’s Mesilla Park home, and his family is left devastated.

“Our family’s suffering,” Reynolds said. “And my message to you would be, if you’re in a gang, if you’re a tagger, you need to stop the violence, the nonsense.”

Reynolds said her son was only 17 when he was shot and killed. His case remains open.

While Pena’s alleged killers are in custody, Reynolds said, she does not feel the least bit at ease knowing this kind of violence continues.